Peter Birmingham shows off the "Three's Company" selection of wines blended with three varieties of grapeWalking down Santa Monica Blvd. towards the new Pourtal wine bar, it was hard not to get pulled in by the perennial forcefield of happy, soused Brits at the King's Head. But I was glad I pressed on, because sampling wines using a Smartcard is pretty fun, even if it is likely to quickly add up.
And since wine director Peter Birmingham is one of the most knowledgeable sommeliers in L.A., the selection of wines is naturally stellar.Buy a card -- for opening party, we were given $30 card -- then walk around to see the choices, and insert the card in the Enomatic machine, putting your glass below the selected wine. A one ounce taste runs from $1.52 to $8.47, while there's a selection of 5 oz. glasses from $6.50 to $15. Pourtal is working hard to make tasting wine a fun and educational experience, with themed areas that comprise a flight and extensive tasting notes. My card held out for about six tastes, with some real winners in there, including the Tissot Pousard Sans Souffre, a good value at $3.05 an ounce. Another excellent value was the $2.99 an ounce Niner cab Bootjack Vineyard from Paso Robles.
As for the "cosmoculture" Domaine Viret Emergence -- I think I'll leave that one to the hippies. There's plenty of snackage available to go with the wine (beer is available too), including cheese plates from Andrew's Cheese Shop, flatbreads, artichoke garlic toasts and for the adventurous, chocolate/bleu cheese crostini.
With Bar Pinxto just across the street and Robata Bar next door, the westernmost block of Santa Monica Blvd. has come a long way from the days of fish n' chips and warm Guiness. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
5 comments:
hm..are those wines really a bargain at $3-4 an ounce? A standard glass has 5 ounces so a full glass of one of those wines would be $15 dollars. Just a though. I've done the enomatic machine deal at Winehouse in West LA and it's quite fun.
Peter has a great palate, but personally,I just dont like the idea of the enomatic machines, unless they are in a wine store. If I am at a wine bar, I like the whole social side.
But next time after the beach, Ill drop in for sure and check it out...
Going in tonight after dinner...it's walking distance from my house...and Peter is a savant!! The west side is growing up! Yeaaaa!
Stopped in yesterday with high hopes but couldn't have been more disappointed. This is a TINY space, with TINY pours that equate to paying 15-20 dollars for a single glass of wine. To top it all off the place is not at all comfortable to be in. How could anybody be so misguided to take a great idea and flush it down the toilet by being so tone deaf to the community?
Seems like the previous posters missed the point. Went in there the other night and they have wines by the glass like anywhere else. What you get with the machines is the ability to try wines you wouldn't normally have access to. $3-4 ounces can be a bargain depending on the wine. Plus their staff actually knows wine and can talk to you about it. As they say, it's wine bar 2.0, and the place was packed with people all having a great time.
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